BEIJING - The U.S. men's eight and lightweight women's double sculls crews won repechages, or second-chance races, on Tuesday to highlight the fourth day of rowing competition at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
The men's eight of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), Micah Boyd (St. Paul, Minn.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) advanced to Sunday's final by clocking a 5:38.95 to win the repechage. The crew led through the first half of the race but entered the final 500 meters trailing Australia by 0.91 seconds. However, the Americans responded with a strong sprint to win the race by 1.36 seconds. Australia, The Netherlands and Poland also qualified for the final.
"We made some improvements from the heat to the rep, and there are things we can work on over the course of the next four days, just building as the races go on," Schnobrich said.
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Jen Goldsack (Banstead, United Kingdom) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) rowed through Finland's Minna Nieminen and Sanna Sten in the final 500 meters to win the first of two repechages. The duo sat in second position, less than one second off of Finland's pace, for the first 1,500 meters before pulling away in the final quarter of the race. Goldsack and Hykel clocked a 7:22.22 to win by 1.58 seconds. With the top three finishers moving on to Thursday's semifinals, Japan also advanced.
"We had a really solid piece," Hykel said. "We got the job done and are looking forward to the semifinal."
In the women's quadruple sculls, the crew of Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio), Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.), Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished second to advance to Sunday's final. The U.S. got off the line in third position but moved into second place before the 1,000-meter mark. Germany led the race from start to finish, clocking a 6:36.17. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:39.53. Australia and Ukraine also qualified for the final.
"We knew it was going to be a hard race, and we knew we were going to have to go harder than we had ever gone before," Shumway said. "I think we did that. We were aggressive from the start. We're such a young crew that every time we go out and do a piece we learn something that helps us."
The lightweight men's four quartet of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) finished third in its repechage to qualify for Thursday's semifinals. The crew took over third place in the second quarter of the race, pulling away from Egypt to advance. Ireland won the race in a 6:21.79, with The Netherlands finishing second in a 6:25.25. The U.S. clocked a 6:27.43.
The women's pair of Anna Cummins (Bellevue, Wash.) and Portia McGee (Seattle, Wash.) finished third in its repechage and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. The duo sat in third place the entire way down the course. China's Yulan Gao and You Wu won the race in a 7:23.71, while Germany's Maren Derlien and Lenka Wech finished second in a 7:27.02. The U.S. clocked a 7:32.26.